A new report has found that despite claiming not to invest in 'controversial weapons' 13 of the top 14 Australian super funds are still investing in nuclear weapons companies, in some cases even in an option described as 'responsible', new research from The Australia Institute and Quit Nukes has found.
Key results
- At least $3.4 billion of Australian retirement savings are invested by these 14 super funds in companies involved in making nuclear weapons.
- One of the 14, Hostplus, has excluded nuclear weapons companies across its portfolio since December 2021.
- The report analyses financial returns and finds that the exclusion of nuclear weapon companies from portfolios has an immaterial impact on returns.
"It's frankly unconscionable to sell super fund members a responsible investment option and then use their money to invest in nuclear proliferation," said Rosemary Kelly, Director at Quit Nukes.
"The thing that makes this baffling is that investing in nuclear weapon companies is just completely unnecessary in the broader scheme of things..
"Superannuation funds should divest immediately from weapons manufacturers who produce nuclear weapons. If you're a member of 13 of these 14 leading funds you can request that your fund divest or threaten to take your savings elsewhere.
"Super funds are being sneaky by boasting of policies to exclude "controversial weapons" but not counting nuclear weapons as "controversial." That's pretty hard to swallow when you consider that most ESG advisers now consider nuclear weapons as controversial weapons, given the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that came into force in 2021.
"The most frustrating thing about the lack of process in this area is that excluding nuclear weapon companies from super portfolios is so easy. Divesting has an immaterial impact on investment returns," said Alice Grundy, Research Manager at The Australia Institute.
"Your super fund could divest your money from nuclear weapon companies without materially impacting your returns.
"So long as nuclear weapons exist, nuclear war is an ever-present risk. Its impacts would be catastrophic. Even a limited nuclear war, involving say 250 of the over 12,000 nuclear weapons in the world, would kill 120 million people outright and cause nuclear famine, putting 2 billion lives at risk. There would be massive impacts on global supply chains and manufacturing.
"The long-term financial implications should be factored into decisions about where to invest Australian super."
